PLCs.ai · 1 day ago
VP R&D
NYC Metro Area
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
10+ years expPLCs.ai is an AI-powered platform transforming industrial automation by analyzing and generating PLC code. The VP of R&D will be responsible for the full development lifecycle, leading a high-performance engineering team to deliver and evolve the platform and product suite.
Computer Software
Responsibilities
Build and lead a high-performance, AI-augmented engineering team where every developer leverages AI tools to maximize velocity and output quality
Own end-to-end delivery of the PLCs.ai platform: architecture, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance
Architect and execute the migration from startup infrastructure to enterprise-grade systems capable of serving Fortune 500 manufacturers
Evaluate and select enterprise cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure), container orchestration (Kubernetes), and supporting services
Implement enterprise observability, monitoring, and incident response systems (DataDog, Prometheus/Grafana, PagerDuty)
Lead development of our full-stack application, evolving the current Next.js/React/TypeScript stack as requirements demand
Establish engineering processes optimized for AI-assisted development: code review practices, testing standards, CI/CD pipelines, and release management
Collaborate with the Head of AI to integrate AI services, agent architectures, and RAG systems into the platform
Partner with the Director of PLC Experts to ensure platform features align with industrial automation requirements and vendor specifications
Own adjacent products and future tools bridging AI with manufacturing systems
Drive security and compliance initiatives required for enterprise customers (SOC 2, data residency, access controls)
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field
10+ years of software engineering experience with at least 5 years in technical leadership roles
Demonstrated experience using AI coding assistants (Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot) in your own workflow and a vision for how AI transforms software development
Track record of building and scaling high-performing engineering teams that punch above their weight
Deep expertise in modern full-stack development: React, Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js
Proven experience architecting and operating enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure on AWS, GCP, or Azure
Hands-on experience with container orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker), infrastructure as code (Terraform, Pulumi), and CI/CD systems
Strong experience with relational databases at scale (PostgreSQL, managed database services, read replicas, connection pooling)
Experience implementing observability stacks: logging, metrics, tracing, and alerting
Track record of delivering complex software products from concept through production at enterprise scale
Understanding of AI/ML integration patterns and working with LLM-powered features
Hands-on mentality: willing to write code, debug production issues, and lead by example
Startup mentality: comfortable with ambiguity, excited to build from the ground up
Preferred
Experience with industrial automation, manufacturing systems, or OT (Operational Technology) environments
Background in microservices architecture, event-driven systems, or message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
Experience with security compliance frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001) and enterprise security requirements
Familiarity with vector databases, RAG architectures, or AI agent frameworks
Experience with desktop application development (Electron, Python) for enterprise tools
Prior experience scaling a startup from early stage to growth phase
Advanced degree (MS) in Computer Science or related field
Benefits
Health, dental, and vision insurance
401(k)
Flexible PTO
Budget for conferences, courses, certifications, and AI tooling
Company
PLCs.ai
PLCs.ai uses AI to turn complex automation code into plain English, making it faster to understand, troubleshoot, and modify the systems that run the world's factories.
2-10 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageCompany data provided by crunchbase